On Tuesday September 21st at a Marin County Board of Supervisors hearing, more than two dozen Marin residents spoke in favor of reconstructing the Alto Tunnel between Mill Valley and Corte Madera for bicycle and pedestrian use.

The meeting had the primary purpose of presenting to the Board the findings of the $225,000 Mill Valley to Corte Madera Bicycle and Pedestrian Corridor Study, which analyzed three routes between Mill Valley and Corte Madera: Camino Alto, Horse Hill and the Alto Tunnel. At the meeting, the Board voted to accept the Study as complete.

The final draft of the County of Marin Study indicates that as many as 1,850,000 people could use the Alto Tunnel annually, providing Marin County residents with a safe, separate (from automobiles), and flat route between the Mill Valley and Corte Madera. Public comments at the Board of Supervisors meeting ranged from how the tunnel would increase physical activity, thereby reducing childhood obesity, to how it would provide emergency egress in the event of wildfire. MCBC and several residents also mentioned the need for additional study of properties above the Alto Tunnel to resolve property questions, and to conduct geotechnical work inside the tunnel to develop more accurate cost estimates and reduced contingency margins.

The Marin County Bicycle Coalition applauds the Marin County Department of Public Works for their great work on this report and the Board of Supervisors for accepting it on Tuesday. We look forward to continuing to work together to improve the bicycle and pedestrian routes between Mill Valley and Corte Madera.

Last Tuesday, the Mill Valley School District approved work to be completed next year at Tam Elementary School (in Tam Valley) that includes significant improvements to their non-motorized transportation infrastructure. The work will include an 8-foot multi-use pathway and new bicycle racks. The project is part of a larger infrastructure upgrade to the entire school, and is being funded through Mill Valley's Measure C Bond - passed by voters last November to help pay for much needed improvements to all Mill Valley School District schools.

Local advocates and parents lobbied school administrators and Board members for bicycle and pedestrian improvements. Tam Elementary has the distinction of being one of the very first Safe Routes to Schools sites in the entire country, and was part of the very first Safe Routes Pilot Program in 2000; one of only two communities in the entire nation at the time. Today, with the help of Tam Elementary's pioneering work, Safe Routes to School is now in every state of the country with thousands of school sites participating.

MCBC thanks the Mill Valley School District staff, administrators, and Board, local parents and advocates, Transportation Alternatives for Marin, and Van Pelt Construction Services for their exhaustive work and collaboration to make these much-needed improvements. MCBC looks forward to sharing the news and pictures of the site improvements when they've been completed.

3. International Walk to School Day is October 6

Wednesday, October 6, is International Walk and Roll to School Day. More than 40 Marin County schools will be participating this year. Marin students will join millions of worldwide students who will travel “green” by walking and biking that day.

Become inspired, directed and supported in doing the work that our local and global community needs us to do! Break through feelings of overwhelm, anxiety, and exhaustion to know you are making a difference. Sustainable Fairfax teams with local leaders from the Marin County Bicycle Coalition, Mothers of Marin Against the Spray (MOMAS), Teens Turning Green, and the Town of Fairfax, to provide you with inspiration, knowledge and information so you can successfully plug in and make a difference.

During the first hour these inspired individuals will speak about local issues, and share some tips and techniques for advocacy success. The second hour will be our opportunity to work in groups or as individuals in a workshop format. Get ideas, create clear and concrete goals and strategies, craft marketing campaigns, network, learn to navigate applicable organizations and governments, come willing, come ready! We invite you to:

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration’s (NHTSA) National Center for Statistics and Analysis has released new fatality data for 2009. While it’s still hard to fathom that more than 33,000 people were killed in our streets last year, the trend is in the right direction - down.

The total number of traffic fatalities dropped 9.7% from 37,423 to 33,808. Cyclist fatalities dropped somewhat faster: a 12% decline from 718 in 2008 to 630 in 2009. One disappointment is that pedestrian fatalities declined at a slower rate than the others, lowering 7.3% from 4,414 to 4,092.

It’s encouraging that fatalities are down, but what was the cause? NHTSA published a table that includes a line for the fatality rate, showing fatalities per 100 million vehicle miles traveled. This line shows that fatalities are down, despite a slight increase in vehicle miles traveled, VMT.

So, what about cyclists? Once again we run into data collection problems. While the DOT carefully estimates auto VMT, we are still stuck with feeble data on bicycling rates — and none have been released for 2009. Bicycle commuting jumped up in 2008. Was that a spike or did the trend continue into 2009? If the increase continued, then the fatality rate would have lowered and that would be good news. Stay tuned for the future release of the American Community Survey commuter data for 2009.

Injuries, based on estimates from the National Automotive Sampling System (NASS) General Estimates System (GES), declined for pedestrians to a statistically significant degree, but not for cyclists. So why are we seeing a decrease in cyclist fatalities but not in injuries?

Fairfax Body and Soul is a festival for the whole person, whole family, and whole community. Nourish your Body & Soul, under the shade of the redwoods in beautiful downtown Peri Park, with experiences, flavors, workshops and demonstrations representing the leading edge of health, wellness, organics & sustainability.

Hurry down to the Re-Cyclery Bike Thrift Shop’s one-day warehouse sale at two locations in San Rafael. Open to the entire cycling community, steeply discounted items will include bike frames, forks, wheels, tires, helmets, bike racks, pumps, lights, locks, clothes, cycling shoes and more. Our warehouse is overflowing with bicycle manufacturers’ surplus overstock and private donors’ product donations and we need to make room for new merchandise.

The Trips for Kids Warehouse is located at 125 Larkspur St. Suite 119, San Rafael. The Re-Cyclery Bike Thrift Shop is at 610 Fourth Street in downtown San Rafael. For more information call (415) 458-2986, email info@tripsforkids.org , or check our website.

Trips for Kids gives hundreds of underserved youth each year a chance to experience the joy and challenge of mountain biking, while learning valuable life skills and an appreciation for the outdoors. Based on our local model, 67 Trips for Kids chapters are now taking youth on the trail across the United Stated, Canada and in Israel. More are poised to launch soon. All sale proceeds will be used to get kids on bikes in nature. Don’t worry if you can’t make the sale. The Re-Cyclery Bike Thrift Shop at 610 4th Street in downtown San Rafael is open throughout the year Tuesday - Friday noon - 6 p.m., and Saturday and Sunday 10 a.m.- 4 p.m.

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